Table of Contents
- 1 How are the continental shelf and continental slope similar?
- 2 How is the slope different from the continental shelf?
- 3 What does a continental shelf look like?
- 4 How is the continental slope?
- 5 What does continental slope mean?
- 6 Which of the following type of slope does the continental slope have?
- 7 How are continental slopes and shelves formed?
- 8 What is an example of a continental slope?
How are the continental shelf and continental slope similar?
A continental shelf extends from the coastline of a continent to a drop-off point called the shelf break. From the break, the shelf descends toward the deep ocean floor in what is called the continental slope. Even though they are underwater, continental shelves are part of the continent.
How is the slope different from the continental shelf?
The shelf usually ends at a point of increasing slope (called the shelf break). The sea floor below the break is the continental slope. The continental slope is much steeper than the shelf; the average angle is 3°, but it can be as low as 1° or as high as 10°. The slope is often cut with submarine canyons.
What is the difference between the continental slope and the continental rise?
1 – The continental slope is shallower and 2 – steeper than the continental rise. 3 – The continental slope is made of continental crust, but the continental rise is made of sediment. Turbidity currents carry a lot of sediment down the continental slopes, leaving canyons behind.
What does a continental slope look like?
Continental slopes are indented by numerous submarine canyons and mounds. The Blake Plateau off the southeastern United States and the continental borderland off southern California are examples of continental slopes separated from continental shelves by plateaus of intermediate depth.
What does a continental shelf look like?
Continental shelves are usually covered with a layer of sand, silts, and silty muds. Their surfaces exhibit some relief, featuring small hills and ridges that alternate with shallow depressions and valleylike troughs.
How is the continental slope?
The continental slope (often referred to simply as “the slope”) is commonly dissected by submarine canyons; faulting, rifting and slumping of large blocks of sediment can form steep escarpments, relatively flat terraces and (under certain conditions) basins perched on the slope.
What does the continental slope look like?
What does the continental slope do?
Over geologic time, the continental slopes are temporary depositional sites for sediments. During lowstands of sea level, rivers may dump their sedimentary burden directly on them. Sediments build up until the mass becomes unstable and sloughs off to the lower slope and the continental rise.
What does continental slope mean?
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Continental slope – The slope is “the deepening sea floor out from the shelf edge to the upper limit of the continental rise, or the point where there is a general decrease in steepness” (IHO, 2008).
Which of the following type of slope does the continental slope have?
Continental Slopes. Continental slopes are regions of steeply sloping seafloor that lie between continental shelves and the deep ocean basins (Figure 2). Regional gradients are typically 2–5°, but locally slopes may be much steeper.
What do you mean by continental shelf?
The term “continental shelf” is used by geologists generally to mean that part of the continental margin which is between the shoreline and the shelf break or, where there is no noticeable slope, between the shoreline and the point where the depth of the superjacent water is approximately between 100 and 200 metres.
What is the importance of continental shelves?
The Immense Importance of Continental Shelves Continental shelves provide sunny, warm domains for sea creatures and aquatic plant life alike. Created by both deposition and rising sea levels, these shelves are essential to the survival of these organisms, and also provide many natural resources as well.
How are continental slopes and shelves formed?
The continental slope is formed when muddy sediments are washed away or scraped off the top of a continental plate. Mud dominates the continental slope. However, gravel and sand may also be found. The continental slopes are temporary sites for deposition of sediments.
What is an example of a continental slope?
Continental slopes are indented by numerous submarine canyons and mounds. The Blake Plateau off the southeastern United States and the continental borderland off southern California are examples of continental slopes separated from continental shelves by plateaus of intermediate depth.
What animals live in the continental slope?
Deep sea fish such as rockfish, flashlightfish, headlightfish, midshipman, Dover sole, thornyheads, stablefish, and spot prawns live in the continental slope. The continental slope is also home to coral reefs and deep-slope crabs.